The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) criticized South Korean brokerages over persistent investor-protection and internal-control failures at branch offices, including illegal churning, unauthorized discretionary or delegated trading, and unauthorized access to customer credit information. At a roundtable on the 21st with compliance officers from 21 domestic securities firms, Deputy Governor Seo Jae-wan said brokerages must stop excessive promotion of credit and margin trading, shifting fees and costs onto customers, and superficial investor-protection practices. The FSS said reviews of high-risk product design and manufacturing found preemptive safeguards inadequate, and instructed compliance departments to act as internal Red Teams from the product-planning stage. Executives, including CEOs, must perform their duties under the Accountability Structure Chart and provide compliance teams with sufficient authority and resources. The regulator also pressed firms to implement a Comprehensive Advertising Improvement Plan requiring Chief Consumer Protection Officer participation from the investment-advertising review and decision stage. It is pursuing stronger information-exchange firewalls between departments and affiliates and tighter supervision of brokerage-operated online communities amid concerns over illegal investment solicitation and false information. Earlier FSS work covered flagship-branch inspections, advertising controls, product-review committees, conflicts of interest, overseas brokers, foreign-currency deposit fees, and follow-up monitoring, including a 7 billion won compensation suit linked to an alleged fake foreign-investor email order involving LS Securities.